About Caitlyn Edson

A Field Sing-A-Long (Dowa-ya) is a collection of short free-verse poems translated by William I. Elliott and Nishihara Katsumasa from Naoko Kudō’s Japanese originals. Naoko’s poems are set in a natural community called “Field Village.” Various creatures or elements of the habitat—personified with human names such as “Yoshio Rivercrab” and “Futago Rabbit”—act as “poets,” offering […]

I still recall fondly the female protagonists of teen “chick lit” and coming-of-age stories I read in high school. On a given day I might feel as tormented by love and teenage awkwardness as Mia Thermopolis (Meg Cabot’s The Princess Diaries) or lonely and isolated like Melinda Sordino (Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak). These were gals […]